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Libraries Across Borders is pleased to partner with the DTES Literacy Roundtable for our spring 2017 fundraising initiative.

The DTES Literacy Roundtable is a coalition of adult educators who have collaborated since 2006, sharing techniques, ideas, and information, with a goal towards improving reading and writing skills in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

The Roundtable attempts to combat the profoundly negative effects of low literacy levels, which contribute to economic, democratic, and social exclusion.

Over the coming months, Libraries Across Borders will try to raise $5,000, to be distributed between four organizations that operate under the umbrella of the Roundtable:

The Writers’ Exchange gets inner-city kids excited about reading and writing. Kids read books, complete creative literacy projects, and receive individualized attention from volunteer mentors. Most programs end in the kids’ work being published in professionally designed and edited publications. About 600 children participate in Writers’ Exchange programs each year, and all programs are free for the kids, youth and families involved.

The Community Action Program for Children (CAPC) offers resources to support and grow healthier connections within the family unit and among the greater community at large. Funding would go directly towards purchasing books for parents to take home to their families to promote literacy through play-based styles introduced at CAPC.

The WISH project aims to help women who are working in the survival sex-trade, including many who have grown up without family support and who now have children in the foster care system. WISH strives to make sure that all women have access to opportunities to make free, healthy, and positive choices.

Finally, the Oppenheimer Park Tech Cafe gives residents of the DTES a chance to seek technical support for their electronic devices as well as providing an opportunity to improve general tech literacy. The cafe takes place every Friday afternoon at Oppenheimer Park.

To donate, simply head to the BCLA donations page, select Special Projects and type Libraries Across Borders. We will do the rest!

Stay tuned for upcoming fundraising initiatives and if you’d like to get involved, email us at LibrariesAcrossBorders@gmail.com or come and visit us at the trade show during the upcoming BCLA conference.